Observer's nose broken as RUC charged demonstrators

An "independent observer" from a Dublin-based human rights group had his nose broken when the RUC charged demonstrators in Belfast on Saturday.

Mr Eamonn O Dochartaigh, of the human rights group Action from Ireland (AFrI) sustained injuries to his hands and nose when police charged demonstrators on the lower Ormeau Road this weekend. The video camera he was using was also destroyed in the charge.

Mr O Dochartaigh says he got "an almighty wallop", shortly after filming a policeman batoning a demonstrator. He "fell flat" on his face and could not move. He could see police boots all around him. Some bystanders lifted him and brought him into the Lower Ormeau Residents Action Group centre.

He returned to Dublin on Saturday night after attending Belfast City Hospital, where it was confirmed his nose was broken. Mr O Dochartaigh also sustained damage to his hands which are "extremely painful". His pain prevents him from picking up his children "or doing anything at all". Mr O Dochartaigh's GP believes the pain in his hands may be a whiplash injury resulting from damage to his neck.

A teacher at an all-Irish secondary school in Tallaght, Dublin, Mr O Dochartaigh was brought up in north Belfast and returns regularly to see his parents. He has also visited the Garvaghy Road in Portadown as an independent observer.

Mr O Dochartaigh was wearing a white t-shirt with "Observer" written in large letters on the front and back and had been filming for around 20 minutes when he was struck. He has described the incident to officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs and is taking legal advice on the best manner to bring legal action against the RUC.

AFrI is a human rights body mainly concerned with the rights of people in the third world.